


Every Breath You Take

by CRene



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Psychological Drama, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25580638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CRene/pseuds/CRene
Summary: Someone is stalking Brett. Matt tries to protect her while protecting his heart at the same time.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 123
Kudos: 216





	1. Accidentally In Love

**Author's Note:**

> **Notes*** Many characters from One Chicago shows will be involved with this storyline at one point or another. Yet it will mostly be set in Chicago Fire. I am a huge Brettsey fan and this is my little homage to them. 
> 
> The title of the story is of course from the song by the Police “Every Breath You Take” from the 1980s. I tend to use song titles for story titles and chapters and listen to the song to help with the story. 
> 
> All mistakes are mine and the new paramedic is based on my hubby who was a paramedic himself years ago.***

Part 1: Accidentally In Love

The day had been a long one for Paramedic Sylvie Brett as she ran towards the head-on collision on the two-lane highway. Her new partner, Jacob Henderson, ran to the front passenger side of the metallic blue four-day sedan while Sylvie worked on the driver. 

“Cruz, grab the jaws,” Severide shouted as he shattered the driver’s side window in the sedan. 

Brett checked the pulse of the driver in the sedan after Severide broke the window. The young man was unconscious with blood on the left side of his forehead. The airbag had already deflated after the accident. 

“Severide, we need to get him out,” Brett yelled. “How are you doing over there, Henderson?”

Jacob Henderson was the new paramedic at Firehouse 51, who had only been partnered with Brett the past three weeks. She had learned that he was married with two children and that he had taken the past six years off from the job to help raise his children. He was good paramedic from what Brett could tell, but she was still the senior paramedic and needed to supervise him.

Brett looked over to her partner inside of the sedan and noticed Henderson shake his head side to side. The young woman on the passenger side died from the crash. Her long auburn hair was matted with blood and Brett could tell that the airbag did not inflate from the crash. 

“Head over to the other car to check the passengers until another ambo makes it,” Brett ordered Henderson. 

“Brett, we will have this guy out of here in a minute,” Cruz stated before he turned the jaws on to pull open the door. “Stand back.”

Within minutes the driver was out of the vehicle on the stretcher. Henderson was on the other side of the stretcher as the second ambo had arrived already. The patient was still unconscious even after a sternum rub and medication to try to wake him up. They loaded the patient in the back of the ambulance and began to hook up the patient to the heart monitor.

Henderson jumped up in front of the ambulance as Brett began to hook up the patient to wires. As she hit the heart monitor button across the patient, she heard a mumble. As she leaned over the young man and swept a piece of his blond hair away from his eyes - his eyes opened.

“Are you an angel,” he mumbled as he looked up into her stunning blue eyes.

“Nope, just a paramedic,” Brett answered as she blushed and moved aside the patient. “You were in an accident. What’s your name?”

“Oliver Guthrie,” he replied before he tried to sit up. 

“Don’t move around too much. It doesn’t look like you have any broken bones, but you may have internal bleeding.”

“What happened to June? Where is June,” he asked as he fell back onto the stretcher. “My girlfriend.”

“Was that the passenger in your vehicle,” Brett wondered as she began to check his blood pressure.

“It was her vehicle. When we went somewhere together, I always drove,” he commented. “She didn’t make it, did she?”

Brett looked over at Oliver as her heart began to beat faster. She hated this part of the job. Losing anyone let alone a loved one was hard enough on the family member, explaining the details to the loved one was devastating. She was suddenly glad this was the last call for the long day she had. She had already lost two patients today. Days like this were the worse for her and afterward, most of her colleagues would go to Molly’s, yet all she wanted to do was crawl into bed.

“I’m sorry,” Brett responded as she grabbed the patient’s hand and squeezed. “It will be okay.”

The look across Oliver’s face made Brett shiver. It wasn’t sadness across his face, but something else. He leered at her with such attention that she pulled her hand away. Suddenly, the ambulance came to a stop and the back doors opened.

Brett had never been so happy to rid of a patient as she had been with Oliver. There was just something about him that creeped her out. She took the end of the stretcher as it was being pushed into the emergency room. She had lost her train of thought as Doctor Will Halstead came up to the stretcher.

“What do we have,” Will asked as they rushed the patient into the ER.

Henderson looked over at Brett as she moved along the stretcher. Her mind was somewhere else, anywhere else, but where it needed to be. She was lost.

“Brett,” Will shouted as he tapped her hand. 

“Oh, sorry, Oliver Guthrie, head-on collision, lost consciousness. BP is elevated 180 over 130 and heartrate is 99,” Brett stated as she tried not to look at Oliver again. “He came to in the ambulance a couple of minutes ago.”

“Thank you, Brett,” Oliver called as he was pushed away into the room. 

Brett stood at the entrance of the room as the doctors and nurses began to work-up Oliver Guthrie. She didn’t know what to think or what had happened, she was just happy it was over.


	2. Speechless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _*Notes** All I can say is thank you at the bottom of my heart for all of the feedback, kudos, and bookmarks. I think this has to be one of my most popular stories so far. Is that the reason, I write? No, but it does make me feel good to know people are reading and liking my story._
> 
> _I did forget to put where this story is taking place. It is set at the beginning of Season Nine since Foster has already left. Yes, I am taking everything that has happened on the show into consideration on writing this, so our dear Otis is still gone._
> 
> _Dawson will be mentioned at one point. Am I a fan of Dawson? Well, I did love how independent and fierce she was, but it doesn’t always work in a relationship when you don’t take into consideration your partner. I think that is what Dawson tended to do. It is one reason why Dawsey didn’t work, in my opinion. Now onto the greatness that is Brettsey.***_

A couple of days after the head-on collision, Brett walked into Firehouse 51 for her shift. She needed coffee. It had been a great weekend off, but it had been exhausting. Now here she was back at Firehouse 51 with her family. She looked around the common room looking for a certain blond that made her heart flutter a bit every time he looked at her. When she couldn’t locate him, she made her way into the locker room to finish getting ready for her shift.

Kidd stood by her locker when Brett entered the locker room. Her dear friend and the only other female at Firehouse 51, Stella Kid had her long black hair tied up in a ponytail. Her laughter and antics made Brett smile remembering their fun when Brett’s former partner, Emily Foster was still with them. It had been a while since Kidd and Brett had a girl’s night, a long time actually since Foster left. Maybe it was something they should do soon if Kidd had time between working at Molly’s and spending time with Severide.

“Brett, girl, how has it been,” Kidd asked as she shut her locker. 

“Great. I was just thinking that we haven’t had a girl’s night in awhile. How about we do something after the next shift,” Brett wondered needing something to keep her mind off of the past weekend’s events.

“I would love to, but Kelly wanted to do something since I worked all weekend at Molly’s,” Kidd responded as she stood in front of her friend. “How about the three of us do something?”

“I don’t feel like being a third wheel.”

“Well then, how about we ask Casey to come with us? We could go dancing or maybe a game night at their place,” Kidd suggested remembering how Brett felt about Captain Casey. 

“I don’t know, Kidd,” Brett stammered. “I’ll think about it.”

Kidd left the locker room after that and Brett finished putting her things away in her locker. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Captain Matt Casey. He was one of her closest friends these days. He was good-looking that was for sure, and the way he looked at her sent butterflies straight to her stomach. When he smiled at her, she felt like she could float away. Yet, she was afraid to ever cross that line with him. He was her former partner’s ex-husband. Gabby Dawson had been her partner and best friend for quite a few years. She knew the girl code, don’t mess with an ex of your friend. Yet when was the last time, Gabby called or even showed up in Chicago. She didn’t even make time for Otis’ funeral last year. No one really talked about Gabby anymore, and Brett was sure that Casey had moved on. Although Gabby was gone, Brett was a decent person who couldn’t bring herself to break that unspeakable code. She wasn’t even sure if Casey even felt that way about her. They were friends, close friends. Why risk losing that?

A few minutes later everyone had gathered in the conference room to listen to Chief Boden with his announcements for the upcoming shift. When he finished the crew of Firehouse 51 emptied the conference room. Brett let everyone else exit the room leaving her alone.

***

Casey stood in the doorway of the conference room and looked back to see Brett still sitting at the table. It had been the first time he was really able to see her since the shift today. Her blond hair shined in the sunlight like an angel from heaven. He couldn’t help but grin at the courageous, compassionate woman before him.

“What are you smiling at,” Brett asked as she came up to him lost in thought.

He hadn’t even noticed that she had stood up and walked up to him. He was too busy thinking of things he would love to do with her.

“You,” he answered as he blushed and looked down at the floor. “Do you know how amazing you are, Sylvie Brett?”

“Matt,” she murmured remembering what she was day-dreaming about moments earlier. They were moving slightly closer when suddenly the bells went off interrupting their moment.

The crew of Firehouse 51 entered the station an hour later after a house fire where a family of four survived without any injuries. When the ambulance pulled up behind the firetrucks, Brett noticed a delivery man walking into the station with a big bouquet of roses. 

“I’m looking for Sylvie Brett,” the deliveryman said as the men exited the firetrucks. 

Severide looked over towards his best friend, Casey, who took off his boots. Casey’s head shot up at hearing Brett’s name. 

“White roses for Brett,” Kidd commented. “Wow, Casey, you outdid yourself.”

“Actually it’s eleven white roses and one red rose in the middle,” the deliveryman mentioned. “The sender specified that there had to be one red rose inside.”

“It wasn’t me,” Casey responded as the ambulance stopped inside the station. He looked across the station at Brett who had been driving. He shrugged his shoulders in disbelief that someone had sent Brett flowers. He knew she deserved flowers, that woman deserved the sun and the moon, but it wasn’t him. 

“Brett, do you have a secret admirer that we don’t know about,” Cruz questioned as he walked towards his former roommate.

“What,” Brett wondered walking up to the rest of the crew. 

“The flowers are for you,” Casey declared looking intently into her eyes trying to see some type of reaction.

“Me,” she shrugged as she looked at the delivery man. “Who would send me flowers?”

“I don’t know, I just deliver,” the deliveryman replied. He handed the flowers to Brett and she took a dozen roses into her arms. 

The deliveryman stood there waited for his tip with his hand out. Casey reached in his back pocket and grabbed a five-dollar bill out of his wallet, handed it to the deliveryman, and stepped away headed for the common room.

Brett stood there with the flowers in her hand looking around for a card. Nothing. No card. She couldn’t fathom on who would send her flowers unless it was Casey. They had been getting closer lately. Was this his way of showing her that he was ready for something more?

***

Ten minutes later after Brett had put the roses into the water, she looked around for Casey. She had to know if he was her secret admirer. 

“Who were the flowers from,” Kidd asked as Brett walked by. 

“Not sure. No card,” Brett answered briefly before searching for the Captain of Firehouse 51.  
She found him in his office with the door shut. She shook her head at the sight of the heartfelt man with the broad shoulders, piercing blue eyes, and muscular arms that she fit into perfectly. They had shared hugs before and he had even kissed her a few times on her forehead. Deep down she wanted more, yet she struggled with the complications it could bring. 

Brett knocked on his door lightly.

“Come in,” he stated without looking up. 

She moved inside his small office that looked out into the sleeping quarters. She left the door open and sat on the corner of his desk. 

“This might be a strange question,” she began, “but did you send me the roses.”

He stopped writing mid-stroke when he heard her voice. 

“No,” he murmured. “If I sent you flowers, I would know to send you lilies - not roses.”

“Oh,” she stammered. “I didn’t think you remembered my favorite flower.”

“I remember everything about you, Sylvie,” he admitted putting his hand over her hand that was on his desk. “I know things have been strange between us lately.”

“You can say that again,” she muttered as she looked down at their hands. He squeezed her hand making her heart flutter. 

Neither of them noticed the figure hidden outside the firehouse window shooting pictures of the two of them. The young man clenched his teeth at the closeness between his angel and the man beside her. They were holding hands and it made the steam come out of his ears. He was angry at his angel for being so close to the blond man in the white polo shirt. He would make both of them notice him that was for sure. 

“Until next time, my angel,” he demanded as he put his camera away and left his hiding place behind the bushes outside Firehouse 51.


	3. Wherever You Will Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**Notes** Thank you once again for all of the feedback. It fuels me to write more when I get so many great comments and kudos. I have even been reading other stories from all of you dedicated to Brettsey and rewatching some of Season 8 to help me great into the zone. Yes, every scene in this story is going to be important._
> 
> _I received a comment about the scene in Matt’s office that he wouldn’t take her hand at the beginning of Season Nine. Well, he was more of trying to comfort her and put his hand over the back of her hand. He has hugged her many times, so I think at this point in time, he would make the move._
> 
> _I am going to try and write longer chapters. This means it might be a day or more until chapters are posted, so the next chapter might not be until Saturday or Sunday. I tend to write as I go, then post the chapters. All mistakes are mine, but I do have my husband read through the chapters at times to fix any technical errors. **_

**

Five hours into the shift at Firehouse 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, and Ambo 61 were called onto an industrial accident at W. 16th Street. The crew had been just sitting down for lunch when they were called out.

Brett stood by the rest of the crew in awe as Severide, Casey, Cruz, Mouch, and Hermann helped pull a man from underneath a fallen beam. As the man of fifty was pulled out from the wreckage, Brett and Henderson went to work trying to get the man’s leg stabilized. Once they walked towards the ambulance, Brett grew tense. Something was wrong as she came closer to the ambulance - the back door was open. 

“Henderson, did you open the door before we went on scene,” Brett asked if she knew the answer. The doors were slightly ajar, and Brett tensed up immediately.

“No. Did you,” Henderson answered looking over to his partner.

“Let’s just get the patient too med,” Brett stated as she opened the doors farther and began to step into the ambulance.

Her eyes immediately went to the picture on the bench where she usually sat. She picked up the picture and shook her head. 

“What’s going on,” Kidd wondered as she came upon the ambulance noticing her friend. 

“The back doors were open and it looks like something was left for Brett,” Henderson announced to Kidd.  
“Girl, what is it,” Kidd questioned noticing how quiet and stiff Brett had become. “Do I need to call Casey or Severide over?”

It took a few seconds for Brett to realize what she needed to do. Her job was to take care of the patient, that was what she was going to do. 

“It’s fine, Kidd,” she muttered as she moved over starting to work again on the patient. “I’ll see you at the firehouse.”

“Okay.”

Minutes later the ambulance drove off with Henderson in the driver’s seat and Brett in the back with the fifty-year-old man who had a broken tibia The leg was wrapped to stop blood flow, Brett gave the patient 50 mcg fentanyl to control the pain. 

Brett hid the picture in one of the pockets in her trauma pants. She couldn’t think of who was doing this to her. Who sent her the roses? Who took the picture? Did they follow her on all of her calls? All she wanted to do was fall - fall into bed, fall into Matt’s arms, maybe even fall into bed with Matt.

She had to stop thinking like that. Falling into bed with Matt wasn’t the answer. He was one of her closest friends and she was frightened that if it didn’t work out between them that they would lose that friendship. 

Brett had to concentrate on the task at hand. Forget all of it, forget the flowers, forget the picture - just forget.

**

In the truck on the way back to Firehouse 51, Kidd knew she had to speak up. Remembering the way Brett acted in the ambulance, the way she had stiffened up and couldn’t turn around to look at her friend. The picture in the ambulance scared the daylights out of Brett and Kidd needed help.

“Captain, when Brett gets back, can you check in on her,” she requested as she looked briefly over at her Captain in the front passenger seat. 

“Kidd, what happened,” Casey questioned as he grabbed the handle on the door and squeezed it. 

“The ambo doors were open when they walked up to it. Brett also found a picture in the back that frightened her,” Kidd explained. “She stiffened right up and it took her a few seconds to gain her composure. I know the two of you are close, and you can get through her more than I can.”

“Okay,” he said, looking out the window watching the city street flash before him.

Earlier in his office, they had a moment together. They always had moments together but were interrupted many times. He knew how he felt about her, although he was never sure about what to do with those feelings. Matt Casey had been hurt before, rushing into relationships without thinking it through all the way. He did it with Dawson and with Hailie years ago. Yes, Gabby and he were friends before they jumped into a relationship. Gabby would always jump without looking or wondering what he would think about it; and he was more of a thinker. He had to think things through in relationships because in his profession if you stopped to think it could cost someone their life. 

**

It had taken Brett and Henderson longer than they had hoped at Chicago Med. When they pulled up into the firehouse over an hour after the others, Brett noticed Casey standing against the truck with one foot on the tire and the other leg planted firmly on the cement.

She should have figured Kidd would tell Casey about what happened. Her cell phone rang as she walked towards him. Hoping it wasn’t anything important she answered her phone while putting up her finger to Casey, to hold on a minute.

“Hello,” she answered. On the other end, she just heard heavy breathing. “Hello, is anyone there?”

“Did you get my presents,” the male voice asked. “I hope you like them.”

“Who is this,” Brett wondered stiffening up instantly.

“I’ll see you soon, angel,” the voice replied before disconnecting the call.

Brett stood there in horror at what just happened. She was scared for her life. Who was this man sending these gifts to her?

“Talk to me, Sylvie,” Casey begged as he put his hands upon her shoulders. “What’s going on?”

“Not here,” she muddled with tears starting to fall. “Someone more private?”

Henderson had walked by them, he knew that Captain Casey and Brett were close. How close, it didn’t matter to him as long as it didn’t involve her work. He had his own family troubles to deal with, so he finished the paperwork and walked towards the common room. 

“My office,” Casey whispered as he looked down at her. 

“No, anywhere but your office,” she responded quickly before pulling away from him.

Casey reached for her hand and she stopped, turned around, and looked at their hands. Casey led her to the turnout room where all of the firefighters kept their gear. It was the only private place near them.

After they sat down next together on the bench, he kept quiet as their hands were still joined together. He knew something was seriously wrong, something had her terrified.

“There is nothing to be scared of, I’m right here,” he told her as he looked down at their joined hands. “I’ll keep you safe. Tell me, please.”

She reached into the pocket of her pants and took the picture out. Brett showed him.

“It’s a picture of us in my office,” he stated obviously. “Is this from earlier today?”

“Yeah, I found it in the back of the ambo after the last call. Someone put it in there while we were inside the warehouse. “Matt, someone is watching me.”

“I didn’t want to go back into your office unless he was still out there. He took these pictures outside from the bushes that go along the back of the building.”

“Was that him on the phone a moment ago,” he asked as he looked closer at the picture. In the picture, Casey had his hand over her’s while she sat at the edge of his desk. If it had been anyone else taking the picture, it would have been a sweet moment of two people who cared deeply for one another. Instead, the picture made him feel violated because it was such a cherished moment.

“Yes, he said he will be seeing me again. I think he is the one who sent the flowers this morning.”

“Did you recognize the voice,” he asked squeezing her hand again. 

“No. Matt, do you have any idea how many patients I see during one shift.”

“I have an idea. Maybe we should go to the police about this,” he suggested. “They could figure out who it is stalking you.”  
“What can they do? It’s not like he knows where I live and how they are supposed to find him. Plus it’s just some pictures and gifts.”

“Then why are you so shaken,” he wondered knowing the answer. “If you don’t go to the police then I am not going to leave your sight.”

“Matt, what about if we get a call. You can’t watch me twenty-four seven.”

He would watch over her. He would do anything for her. He would give his life for her. Sylvie Brett meant everything to him. 

“Then I think we need to tell the Chief,” he admitted realizing that she needed to feel safe at work.

“Matt,” she sighed as her shoulders sagged. She had so many emotions running through her - anger, sadness, loyalty, and beloved.

“Sylvie, how can I keep you safe if I know there is someone out there following you on calls, taking pictures of you - of us, calling you, and sending you gifts.”

“Fine, we can tell the Chief,” she whispered looking down at her feet. 

She didn’t want to argue with Casey. She felt drained, confused, and suddenly needed something. 

“Can you just hold me for a moment before we go,” she murmured hoping he would say yes, but expecting him to say no. 

He let go of her hand immediately and put his arm around her. She leaned into his arm and felt the kiss on her forehead. She suddenly felt warmer, safer, and at ease.

“You make everything better, Matt,” she murmured in his shoulder. 

“I try,” he answered back. “For you, I try.”

They sat on that bench together for what seemed to be an eternity. He made her feel things she had not felt in a very long time or if ever. He was her closest friend, but he was something else also. Matt made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. She could tell him anything, she trusted him with her life. She just hoped it wouldn’t come to either of them losing their life.


	4. Only Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** I do hope everyone realizes how thankful I am that the kudos and feedback are still coming. I am working hard to continue making this an interesting ride for Firehouse 51. I am also trying to reply to the feedback I receive.
> 
> Once again this is set Season Nine and my husband who was once a paramedic helps me with some of the technical details. All of the errors are mine. Enjoy**

**

“I went to Rockford this past weekend and saw Amelia,” Brett admitted as she sat down on the cot in Casey’s office. He walked into the office behind her and pulled down the blinds in the window. After the picture, he wanted to make sure Brett had as much privacy as possible. 

“You did,” Casey wondered. “How is Amelia?”

“She is getting so big. I took a few pictures if you want to see them,” Brett stated as she pulled out her cellphone to show Casey. “I stayed at this quaint Bed and Breakfast with a large pond in the back. I would sit on the wrap-around porch and drink my coffee in the morning before I would go see Scott and Amelia.”

Brett needed to think about anything other than the creep that was stalking her. So she sat in Casey’s office talking about her weekend. It had been a few weeks since she had last visited her baby sister. After her mother died giving birth to Amelia; Scott had gone back to Rockford to raise Amelia to be closer to his family. Brett had asked Scott if she could come to visit her baby sister whenever possible and he had agreed. 

It had taken her about thirty minutes before she calmed down in the turnout room. After that, Casey had taken her to Boden’s office. 

“Do you know who this man, could be,” Boden asked as he put his hands on his desk. “I don’t like my people being followed or worried about what is outside these windows.”

“I don’t know who it could be,” Brett admitted as she sat in the chair. Casey stood behind her with his hand on one of her shoulders. The Chief could see the closeness between Casey and Brett, but he would worry about that later. Now he had to deal with a stalker hunting one of his crew.

“Any weird calls, lately,” Boden questioned as he wrote down the information Brett was giving him.

“Not that I can recall. I mean there was this one guy last week who got a little weird after his girlfriend died,” Brett recalled as she remembered the moment when she pushed Oliver Guthrie into the emergency room.

She looked up to Casey for a moment and put her hand over his that was still on her shoulder. 

“Do you remember the head-on collision,” she asked. “The passenger died on impact and the driver was unconscious. He woke up in the ambulance and we started talking. He said that he was driving his girlfriend’s car and asked about her. I told him that she passed away and he just stared at me with this look on his face that sent shivers up my spine.”

“Do you remember the name,” Boden asked as he noticed the way Brett had grabbed Casey’s hand. He knew they had gotten close, but how close he wondered. Would he need to talk to them about relationships in the workplace? 

“Oliver Guthrie, I believe,” Brett answered. 

“I’ll call Med and see what his status is and then I’ll call Intelligence and see if they can look into this guy,” Boden stated as he picked up his phone. “Captain, stay here for a second.”

Brett got up from the chair and left the office. Boden had actually put the phone down for a minute, stood up, and walked to the door and closed it. He needed to know something first before he looked into the patient.

“I know that you were there for Brett when her mother died a couple of months ago. I, also know that if something was going on between you and her, that you would tell me, right,” Boden claimed as he stood in front of his Captain.

“Chief, I’m not sure what we are, right now. I admire Brett for what she had to overcome the past few months. She is a damn good paramedic and I would never put her in a position to lose that. I also know that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Casey admitted putting his hands in his pocket. “We have been getting closer and I hope that it doesn’t stop.”

“Just watch yourself. I don’t want to lose either of you, I also don’t want a repeat of the days of you and Dawson.”

“Oh, believe me, Chief, Brett is nothing like Dawson, other than, they were both great at their jobs. I don’t plan on getting hurt this time, and I don’t plan on hurting her,” Casey explained. It was true, he was falling hard for the PIC, and he was glad that directly they were close friends first. Although, taking things slow with her was starting to make him take more cold showers than he had in years. 

“Good. Now get out of here, so I can call Med and Intelligence,” Boden ordered.

Casey left the office in search of Brett and found her in the bunk room sitting on her bed. He stood before her and held out his hand towards her and led her to his office. 

Now they sat on his bed in his office looking over pictures of her baby sister. He was honest with the Chief; he wasn’t sure where Brett and he stood, but he did like where it was headed. Before she had accepted the Chaplain’s proposal he had been ready to ask her out. It took them another year to get to this place again. It took them losing Otis, Foster leaving, and this stalker situation to make him realize how precious life was. He wanted Sylvie Brett in his life and more than just his professional aspect of it. 

“Maybe next time, you want to go to Rockford, you invite me along. I wouldn’t mind getting away for a while,” Casey suggested as he looked over at the stunning blue-eyed paramedic that made his hands clammy and his heart beat faster. 

“You want to go to Rockford with me?”

“Yeah, and we can stay at that Bed and Breakfast if you like or somewhere else,” he stammered realizing what he had just said. 

“Together?”

“I can be a perfect gentleman, Sylvie,” he murmured taking the step he needed to do months ago.

“What if I don’t want you to be,” she admitted as she looked over at him with a smile. “A gentleman, I mean.” 

“Sylvie,” Casey mumbled as they began to move their heads closer together as their hands were joined together on her cellphone.

“Matt,” she stuttered before someone knocked on his office door. 

They jumped back from each other and looked up to the door to see Ritter standing there with a package in his hand. 

Brett’s walls went up instantly as she shivered from what Ritter was holding. She didn’t want it to be another gift for her. 

“Come on in, Ritter,” Casey said as he waved in the recruit. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but this came for you, Brett,” Ritter stated handing the box over.   
“Thanks, Ritter,” Casey replied taking the box out of his hands. Casey took the box and set it on his desk. He looked over the box that was about fifteen inches by twenty. There was no indication written on the box on where it came from. Casey grabbed the scissors from inside his top desk drawer. 

He could feel Brett’s eyes on him from behind as he cut open the box. Inside was tons of styrofoam balls and as he dug inside, he finally felt the object and pulled it out. He pushed the box aside and put the item on his desk. 

“A snowglobe,” Brett questioned as she moved beside Casey. 

“A snowglobe of Chicago,” he replied as he looked at the beautiful skyline of Chicago. The base of the globe was silver and showed the skyline with landmarks of the city inside of it. It was beautiful and something Brett could see herself buying at one point.

“Well, this isn’t creepy at all,” she stated as she picked up the globe then noticed the color covering the city. It wasn’t snowing inside like other snowglobes, it was covering the city in red liquid. 

“Is that supposed to be blood,” Casey wondered as she took the globe from her. 

“Does this mean he is going to cover the city in blood, oh god,” Brett cried as Casey put the globe on his desk and took her into his arms. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

“I can’t do this,” she wept. “Why me?”

Casey didn’t have any answers for her, but he was going to get to the bottom of this. Before he could do anything, the bells went off and Brett and Casey pulled away from each other. She wiped her eyes as the announcement went over the intercom.

“Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, Vehicle in Water, Lynn White Drive--” 

“Time to get to work,” Brett announced as she started for the door. 

“We could call in another ambulance,” Casey suggested grabbing her hand. “Stay here.”

“No, I have to do this, Casey. If I stayed here, I am letting this guy win. We have a job to do,” Brett replied reaching over to kiss him on the cheek. “But thank you for looking out for me.”

With that said she turned around and ran towards the bay. He followed her and suddenly the crew of FIrehouse 51 was out doing their job. No one noticed the man standing on the side of the building watching the crew disappear down the street. And when he entered the firehouse, no one noticed him disappear inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **  
> I was going to make this chapter longer, but I thought this was a nice ending for the moment. Not sure if all of you enjoy these smaller chapters since I am used to writing 6-9 pages for my other stories. Any questions, just send me a quick message and I will get back to you.
> 
> Next Chapter: Casey catches Brett in a compromising position. **


	5. Calling All Angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** Sorry there were no chapters over the past two days. Weekends are really crazy at my house with everyone being home. My 6-year-old daughter likes to fight with me for my laptop and my 14-year-old was camping. 
> 
> I have this story outlined for a few more chapters with some surprises here and there. I tend to think of scenes during the day before I even start working on it that I would like to happen, I write them on my outline, then at times, I forget to put them in the chapter I go back and make sure those little scenes appear in the next chapter. So I have many scenes in this story I want to accomplish and at times I am not even sure where I will put them all. 
> 
> Thank you again for all of the comments. I have also been reading a lot of Brettsey fics, so I get inspiration from those. And again, all errors are mine. This is a longer chapter also. I had more I wanted to add to it, but this lady is getting tired and needs to sleep. Hopefully, I can write another chapter tomorrow.**

**

It had been a couple of hours before the crew of Firehouse 51 returned to the station. By the time Brett and Henderson had dropped the patient off at Med and the rest of the crew had cleaned up at the accident; the ambulance had pulled into the bay five minutes after the rest of the crew.

All Brett wanted was a shower after a patient threw up on her a couple of times. She smelled horrible and needed to change her clothes. Henderson pulled the ambulance into the bay and Brett jumped right out, walked right past everyone taking off their turn-out gear.

“What is that smell,” Hermann asked as Brett walked by him.

“Don’t ask,” Brett muffed in a terrible mood.

“The patient was so drunk that he threw up on Brett a few times in the back of the ambulance,” Henderson mentioned seconds later as he came up to Hermann. 

“If he was so drunk, he should not have been driving,” Kidd replied, shaking her head in disgust. “I mean Squad could have been seriously hurt getting that guy out of his car from the lake.”

Casey stood there as everyone headed towards the common room. He had watched Brett make a beeline for the showers. He had heard overheard Henderson about the patient in the ambulance and felt horrible for the day Brett was having. He needed to do something; anything to brighten her day and make her feel better about this stalker business. 

They only had eight hours left of their shift; the night shift and hopefully it wouldn’t be too busy so everyone could get some sleep. As he took off his boots and turnouts, he didn’t notice the dark sedan pull up to the station or the two officers exit the car.

“Casey,” someone said from the entrance to the station.

“Jay, what’s up? Did you find anything out about Brett’s stalker,” he questioned as he reached out to shake the detective in the Intelligence Unit.

“Actually, we did. And it’s not good news,” Hailey Upton announced, standing beside her partner. “Where’s Brett?”

“We just got back from a guy who crashed his car into the lake. He was so drunk that he threw up a couple of times in the back of the ambo on Brett,” Casey explained. “She’s in the shower.”

“We need to let her know about this guy,” Jay Halstead. “How about we meet you in Chief Boden’s office in five?”

“No problem, I’ll go get Brett,” Casey responded as Casey, Halstead, and Hailey walked through the doorway.

**

Brett felt filthy, angry, and annoyed. She wished she was anywhere else but at the station right now. She tugged at her clothes and threw them on the floor as she stomped her feet into the shower stall. The water hit her in all the right places as she scrubbed the disgusting vomit off her body. She washed her hair and let the water drench over her body. The tightness in her shoulders was disappearing and she unclenched her jaw. Within seconds of the water spilling over her head; she stiffened as she heard the notes play.

“Is someone there,” Brett asked, turning off the water.

She could hear the melody of the music but wasn’t sure where it was coming from. It was playing “Calling All Angels” by Train, she had remembered that song was popular over a decade ago. Brett grabbed the towel wrapping it over her petite frame and exited the shower stall.

“Hello,” Brett said, rubbing the back of her neck and feeling the sweat on her forehead. “Is anyone out here.”

The music began to get a little louder and she felt frightened as she walked out of the shower area, her eyes darting from one corner to another. Her pulse quickened as she breathed heavily and walked into the locker room. She looked down one aisle of lockers, then the next as slowly tiptoed to the final row of lockers she ran into a solid muscular form.

“Casey,” Brett yelped as he grabbed her arms before she fell back.

“What’s wrong,” Casey asked as he could tell how frightened she was.

“I was taking a shower,” she cringed pulling the towel tighter around her body.

“I can tell,” he bemused with a soft expression across his face.

Brett brushed a stray piece of wet hair behind her ear and blushed. Being this close to Casey in nothing but a towel began to make her nervous and desired. She forgot a moment that had made her come out into the locker room.

“Detective Halstead and Upton are here to see you. They have information on Oliver Guthrie,” Casey mentioned as she stepped back again from him. Brett began to look around and relived the moment in the shower stall minutes earlier.

“Someone was playing music while I was in the shower. Casey, someone was near the stalls while I was in there,” Brett confessed, looking down at her feet.

“What,” Casey fumed as he brushed past her and marched over to the stalls. He went to each stall and pulled the curtain back on each one and as he tore open the curtain to the last stall he found what he was looking for. 

“Grab me a dry towel, please,” Casey asked Brett. 

She grabbed a towel from the shelves around the corner and he wrapped the cellphone that had a picture of Brett as the wallpaper into the towel. 

“I’ll have Halstead and Upton take a look at this,” Casey expressed. “How about you get dressed and meet me in the Chief’s office in five.”

“Can you stay close,” Brett begged, looking up at Casey. “I don’t want to be alone after what happened.”

“I’ll stand at the entrance of the locker room,” he affirmed, touching her left arm. “I won’t leave you.”

“Thanks.”

***  
Six minutes later Brett and Casey entered Chief Boden’s office with Halstead and Upton standing in front of the desk. Casey held the towel in his hand that contained the cellphone and Brett was visibly shaken with she was going through.

“You might want to sit down for this,” Upton requested, leading Brett to the couch in the Chief’s office. Upton sat next to Brett while Casey stood by Halstead. 

“We told the Chief already on what we found out about Guthrie,” Halstead told Casey as the men looked down at Brett.

“The woman in the passenger seat of the accident was June Harrison, a jewelry designer from Winnetka. “She had a PPO on Oliver Guthrie as of last month. She disappeared from her work over a week ago.”

“He said that June was his girlfriend,” Brett stammered, putting her hands on her knees.

“Well, they did go out a couple of times from the looks of it, but that was it. We are not sure how they met, but you are not the first victim of Guthrie’s,” Halstead explained. “And neither was June. We found PPO for him for at least three other women.”

“June didn’t die from the accident,” Upton mentioned as she put her hand on Brett’s. “She was drugged with oxycodone and likely died before she was put into the car.”

“Oh god,” Brett sighed, her head falling into the palms of her hand.

“What are you doing to locate him,” Casey demanded, worried about Brett’s safety. He couldn’t imagine what this maniac would do if he got his hands on Brett.

“That is where it gets tricky,” Halstead replied. “He has disappeared, no bank transactions or credit card. He worked at a cybersecurity firm until three weeks ago as a data security specialist. He has some major hacking skills and I think that is how he has been able to be two steps ahead of the police.”

“What should I do,” Brett questioned. “He probably knows where I live then.”

“Is there someplace you can stay,” Upton wondered. “It isn’t safe for you to be alone, right now.”

“She can stay at my place,” Casey interrupted without missing a beat.

“Casey, you live with Severide,” Chief reminded the Captain.

“Exactly,” Casey stated. “Nothing can happen to her with Severide, Kidd, and I around.”  
Brett couldn’t believe what Casey had suggested. She knew Casey would do anything for her, but staying with him was a bit too much, too fast. Or was it? All of this was too much. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She needed air. She wanted this to be over. Sylvie Brett did not need a stalker, right now, while she was fighting with her feelings for Casey. 

Brett got up from the couch and ran out of the office. She wanted to explode, she wanted to be anywhere but at the firehouse. Yet, she knew she had nowhere to go.

**  
Casey just stood there and watched Brett run out of the office. Maybe he crossed the line, moved too fast, or maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. 

“I’ll go check on her,” Upton proclaimed as she stood up and exited the office leaving the three men.

“We found a cellphone in one of the shower stalls earlier. It looks like Guthrie must have snuck in the firehouse while we were out on that last call,” Casey informed Chief and Halstead, unwrapping the towel on the Chief’s desk. “He scared the hell out of Brett by playing a song while she was in the shower.”

“I can’t have my people frightened in their own firehouse,” Chief demanded. “See, if your people can locate this man. I will not have their lives in danger while they do their jobs. This is supposed to be their home away from home.”

“Chief, I will go over this place with a fine-tooth comb and see if he left anything else for Brett. All of us in Intelligence will be working on this and locate this scum before he hurts Brett,” Halstead told them. “Don’t worry, Casey, we will make sure we have a crew on your place and at Brett’s, just in case.”

A few minutes later Hailey found Brett in one of the conference rooms sitting by herself. Hailey knocked on the door making Brett jump.

“It’s just me,” Hailey responded, walking into the room. 

“I can’t believe this is happening to me,” Brett confessed. “What did I do for this man to become obsessed with me?”

“You didn’t do anything. Men like this would fall for you for making the smallest gesture like asking them ‘How was your day’. He will be caught and we will do everything in our power to make sure of that,” Hailey informed her, sitting at the edge of the table in front of Brett. “Plus you have a noble, resourceful Captain to look after you.”

“Casey doesn’t need to be babysitting me,” Brett commented. “I know he is doing this because he feels sorry for me.”

“The last thing that man feels for you is sorry,” Haille retorted. “He adores you and anyone with eyes can see that. Let him assist you and maybe this will be the one thing that finally gets the two of you together.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, stay with him, everyone knows that the two of you have feelings for one another,” Hailey informed Brett. “We have known for the past year and a half.”

“Fine. I’ll go tell Casey as soon as you tell Halstead how you feel,” Brett retorted, realizing that two could play at this game.

“This isn’t about me or Jay, it’s about you and Casey,” Hailey responded as she played with the bottom of her shirt.

“What’s going on,” Kidd asked as she stepped into the room. 

“Oh nothing, just making a little wager with Hailey,” Brett said with a smile. 

Maybe the day, Brett admitted her feelings for Casey, Hailey would admit her feelings for Jay. Yup, over the past couple of years Intelligence and Firehouse 51 had spent many hours together at Molly’s. Many of their friends knew that Hailey had a thing for her partner, but Hailey wouldn’t make a move. Brett wondered if all of this craziness called her life would bring her closer to Casey. Then she could work on her friends getting together. First, they needed to find Oliver Guthrie and stop him from causing any more havoc. 

“Upton, we better get back to the station,” Halstead announced, poking his head into the conference room. 

“Just remember what I said. Let him help you,” Hailey reminded Brett as she squeezed her friend’s shoulder and left. 

Brett sat there and watched her friend’s leave and in her peripheral vision she noticed Casey leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed his chest watching her. She shook her head in amazement at what he would do to keep her safe. Now all they had to do was get through the rest of their shift without incident.


	6. Say Something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** Thank you so much for all of the feedback. When I see the feedback, I try to respond to all of them to show how much I appreciate it. It is what keeps me going and trying to write a chapter so quickly. I know that my descriptions are not always the best, but I enjoy writing and the storylines I think of. 
> 
> Sorry, this is late again. I actually woke up early to finish writing this chapter. Life with two daughters, a husband, and a house to run gets a bit busy. By the way, I have tons of ideas for our favorite couple and will be writing more stories. This story might just be the first in a series or just write separate stories. Not sure yet.
> 
> Once again all errors are mine. Sometimes I forget to beta-read my story, but I do run it through Grammarly every time. Enjoy**

**

The night had been quiet with only one call for Ambo and a house fire where everyone got out safely. Brett had sat on her bed for what seemed hours, not being able to sleep. She would look all around the bunk room jumping at the slightest sound. After a couple of hours of this, Casey had noticed Brett sitting up in her bed. He wasn’t tired either, so he had worked on paperwork. 

“Brett,” Casey murmured from his office door, waving at her to come to his office. 

She crawled out of her bed, walked over to his office as he leaned against the doorway. 

“I have tons of paperwork to do, so I’m not going to be sleeping anytime soon. How about you sleep in here? It’s quieter and I’ll be right here if you need me,” Casey suggested as he looked into her deep blue eyes. 

“I don’t know, what if Boden finds out,” Brett asked.

“He knows what is going on and would probably be happier if you got some sleep, then sitting up jumping at every sound, including Mouch snoring,” Casey responded with a smile across his face. “Come on, I’ll just use the light above the desk.”

Brett didn’t want to intrude, but she was tired. It had been a long day and her body was aching and stiff. Her eyes were heavy and being out in the open with the rest of the crew was keeping her awake. She couldn’t get comfortable in her bunk and it was driving her crazy.

“Okay,” Brett agreed as she walked into Casey’s office. He closed the door to his office and closed the blinds. He wanted her to sleep and not be able to look out towards the dark bunk room where anyone could be hiding.

Within minutes of crawling into Casey’s bed under the covers, Brett was fast asleep. Casey would look back at the sleeping beauty every so often. He had remembered a line from an older couple he had saved from a fire years ago that you know you love someone when you can spend the entire night just sitting by the fire watching them sleep. There was no fire around, luckily, but Casey knew that deep within his heart that he was in love with Sylvie Brett. He never thought he would feel this way again after Gabriela Dawson stomped on his heart and left him high and dry. It took time with Sylvie, it took them being friends, to being the one person they can count on the most. Now he knew how he felt, he had to make sure he did this right and took his time. Casey didn’t want to mess this up with such an amazing, breathtaking woman, who needed him.

**

Five hours later Brett’s eyes opened; she was confused about where she was for a moment until she looked over at the muscular figure who was fast asleep at his desk. Checking her watch she couldn’t believe she had slept that long, she felt better - rested. Brett stood up, stretched, and made up Casey’s bed. Then she went over to him, leaned over his desk fast asleep. She wondered how long he had been asleep and she was wondered if waking him up was a good idea. Brett couldn’t help herself as she ran her hand through his sleek golden hair and kissed his cheek that wasn’t pressed against his desk. 

Brett opened the door slightly making sure that no one would see her sneak out of his office. She sighed a breath of relief as she was able to close the door without waking up Casey and stood against the door. 

“Well, if it isn’t Sylvie Brett,” Severide chuckled as he leaned against his doorframe in his office which was next to Casey’s.

Brett jumped at the sound of Severide but put her finger up to her lip to be quiet. She strolled over to Severide and stood before him.

“It isn’t what you think,” Brett stated quietly trying not to wake anyone else up.

“How do you know what I think,” Severide retorted with a smile.

“Because I know Kidd and the two of you think that something is going on between Casey and me,” she explained, shaking her head.

“You can’t tell me that you don’t have feelings for our great Captain Casey,” Severide wondered, watching the petite frame before him. 

“I need coffee,” Brett responded. “Walk with me to the common room and I will tell you why I was sleeping in Casey’s office.”

“You still didn’t answer my question,” Severide replied as he followed Brett.

In the common room, Severide grabbed his secret stash of coffee, the rich Arabian flavor that was expensive yet so worth it. Brett sat at the round table behind the couch with her elbows on the table watching Severide. Even though she had gotten plenty of sleep, the smell of Severide’s coffee made her drool. 

“So what is going on with you and Casey,” Severide asked a couple of minutes later putting two mugs of coffee on the table.

“Do you remember the flowers that arrived yesterday morning,” Sylvie asked. 

“Yeah, all of us thought they were from Casey,” Severide responded before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Well, Casey confirmed that they weren’t from him. They were actually from a patient I saved our last shift. Since then he has called my cell, left pictures of Casey and me in the back of the Ambo, and was in the firehouse leaving me little mementos. He even sent me a snowglobe of Chicago that was rigged to cover the city in blood instead of snow,” Brett explained with the details of just the past twenty-four hours.

“Wow,” Severide replied. “Did you go to the police?”

“The Chief called Intelligence and they came by the firehouse with the information they were able to find. The guy had many PPO against him and his last victim, it looks like he kidnapped her and killed her. The detectives don’t want me to go back to my place because they figure the guy has my address.”

“Well, you can come to stay with us. I am sure Casey and Kidd won’t mind,” Severide said with a smile. 

“Funny you say that Casey already volunteered your place,” Brett responded taking another sip of her coffee.

“Stay as long as you need,” Severide replied drinking his coffee.

“That is what I was saying,” Casey responded as he strolled into the common room. Casey stood next to Brett and hugged her shoulders, kissed the top of her head, and then grabbed some coffee. “How did you sleep?”

“I should be asking you the same thing,” Brett commented. “The desk probably wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep.”  
“It’s not the first time, won’t be the last,” Casey retorted as he sat down next to her. 

“I’m going to go,” Severide mentioned, “let the two of you be alone.”

“You don’t need to go,” Brett said as matter of fact. 

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about keeping an eye on Brett later while I work on a house this afternoon,” Casey requested. 

“I don’t need a babysitter, Matt,” Brett reacted. “I don’t mind coming with you to work on the house anyway.”

“Really,” Casey returned in shock.

“You know I like the home improvement shows,” Brett acknowledged as she stood up and put her mug in the sink. “I think it would be fun.”

“The two of you are adorable,” Severide laughed before standing up. “I’m heading back to my office.”

“I’ll follow you to your place after shift to get your things,” Casey said drinking his coffee.

Suddenly the common room was starting to fill up with Mouch, Ritter, and Gallo coming in from the bunk room. Mouch made his way to his spot on the couch while Ritter and Gallo grabbed some coffee. 

“It’s too early,” Kidd stumbled into the room. “Coffee, please?”

“I heard you are coming to stay with us for a few days,” Kidd stated seconds later after grabbing her mug and sitting down on the other side of Brett.

“Why are you staying at Severide’s? Something wrong with your place,” Herman wondered coming into the room.

“No,” Brett replied, not wanting to tell them about the stalker.

“Yes,” Casey responded, grabbing Brett’s hand. “They should know, Brett.”

“OMG,” Kidd squealed with delight, “the two of you finally admitted your feelings for one another.”

“What feelings,” Mouch wondered, turning around to the group behind him.

Brett let go of Matt’s hand and covered her face with her hands in despair. This isn’t how it was supposed to go, she thought. 

“Yeah, what feelings,” Casey wondered, looking over at Brett. He knew how he felt about Brett, but he didn’t realize she had felt the same way. Did she also care for him more than just a friend?

“I have a stalker. He is the one sending the gifts and leaving pictures in the Ambo,” Brett confessed taking her hands away from her face. 

“Is that the reason you slept in Casey’s office,” Kidd asked with a sheepish grin across her face.

“Yes,” Casey responded. “Somehow the guy was in the firehouse at one point and left something for Brett in the showers.”

“What,” Gallo wondered sitting down at their table “How did he get into the firehouse?”

“We think it was when we were on a call,” Casey mentioned. “We need to keep an eye out for any strangers in the firehouse and around the Ambo when we are on a call.”

“I’m so sorry, Brett,” Kidd apologized reaching over for Brett’s hand. “That’s why you are coming to stay with us.”

“Yeah, Intelligence doesn’t want me to stay at my place alone and believes the guy has my address,” Brett responded in frustration. She loved her friends, but her way of living was changing. She wanted the comfort of her bed surrounded by her things. Yet, the apartment was so empty lately with Foster gone.

“Well, we will do whatever needs to be done to make sure you are protected,” Ritter said coming up to the table. 

An hour later the crew was walking out of the firehouse for the end of their shift. It had been a long shift for Brett, and all she wanted was some sort of normalcy. She walked out with Casey beside her.

“Remember, I’ll follow you to your place,” Casey told Brett.

“You might want to rethink that, Captain,” Gallo stated as he ran up to the two of them. Gallo pointed over to Brett’s car. 

“No,” Brett growled at the word Whore written across it in red paint, the tires slashed, and the windows smashed.   
“We will get it taken care of,” Casey stated. “I’ll drive you to your place and while I drive you can call Upton to get a police report and then call your insurance.”

“What did I do to deserve this,” Brett cried, shaking slightly before Casey put his arms around her. 

“It will be okay,” Casey responded. “We will find this guy.”

Brett wasn’t sure anymore. In twenty-four hours the stalker went from calling her angel and sending cute gifts to slashing her tires and calling her a whore. What would be next? Was her life in danger and would her friends be safe? She couldn’t fathom losing any of her friends especially Matt Casey and he would do anything to protect her. Maybe, it was the time that Brett did something about this stalker and stop being a victim.


	7. Smooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** The feedback I receive from this story is incredible. Thank you so much. If I have not reached out to you, I am sorry, I am trying to get to everyone that leaves feedback at AO3 and Tumblr. 
> 
> So I am not sure how the stalker is going to be caught just yet, but I have ideas running through my head that involve Upton, Burgess, Kidd, and Brett going all girl power on him. 
> 
> Once again I do not own Chicago Fire, just taking them on a little adventure. All mistakes are mine. **

“You can always stay outside in the truck, Casey,” Brett mentioned as they pulled up to her apartment building.

She had called the Intelligence unit on the way to her apartment and they were going to have her car towed to inbound and try to dust it for prints. Upton wanted to make sure they had plenty of evidence to put Guthrie away for a long time once he was caught. 

“I’m not letting you out of my sight, Sylvie Brett,” Casey admitted as he opened the door to get out of his truck. 

“That might be a bit difficult while you are sleeping,” Brett retorted, opening the door and getting out of Casey’s truck.

“Not if you are next to me in bed,” Casey murmured, hoping she didn’t hear it. 

“What was that, Captain,” Brett snickered with a smile. She couldn’t believe he had said it, but now her ears were turning red at the thought of being in bed with Casey. They really hadn’t talked about where she was going to sleep at Severide’s. The guy’s shared a two-bedroom loft and Stella had moved into the loft only a few months ago. Was Brett going to get the couch or was Casey going to insist she get his bed? 

“Nothing,” Casey responded as he followed Brett up to her apartment. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but it wasn’t the right time. She already had enough on her plate. Sylvie Brett was one of his closest friends and he didn’t know what would happen if they took that leap and it didn’t work out. 

He followed her up to her apartment in silence. Neither of them could stop thinking of his remark or their feelings for each other that it left both of them nervous to say anything. 

Brett unlocked her apartment, ready to open the door when Casey took her hand. He needed to confess something to her.

“Sylvie, I think we need to talk,” he stated before the door opened all the way.   
“I know, Matt,” she responded looking into his eyes. 

Matt stiffened up when he looked inside the apartment. He pulled Brett aside and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. He didn’t want her to go inside and see what had occurred. 

“What is it, Matt,” Brett asked, now standing behind him. He wouldn’t let her inside her apartment after pushing her in the back of him and closing the door. 

“It looks like Guthrie was here,” Matt confessed, not wanting her to see what the stalker had left in his wake. “Stay here, please, while I make sure the close is clear.”

“You told me just a few minutes ago, you didn’t want me out of your sight. Now you want me to wait outside in the hall while you go looking through MY apartment. Matt, I can handle it,” she ordered pushing him aside and opening the door.

She stood at the entrance of her apartment and gasped. The place was in shambles with furniture turned over, books were torn off the bookshelf, and cupboards open with broken dishes that were smashed on the ground. 

“We are going to catch this guy,” Casey told her as he put his hand on her arm. 

“Yeah, well, right now, I just need to get out of here,” Brett commented heading towards her bedroom. As she opened the door, she wasn’t ready for what was before her. Her room was untouched, nothing out of place. He had ransacked her apartment but left her bedroom, her sanctuary untouched. 

Casey came up behind her and looked inside her bedroom. He had never seen her bedroom before, the colors inside her room were light and airy with a touch of femininity. Some splashes of color here and there and yet also the feeling of the country. 

“Why would he trash my apartment, but leave my bedroom untouched,” Brett asked as she grabbed a bag from her closest and started moving around her room putting things into it. 

“One minute calling you an angel, then trashing your car. He can’t make up his mind whether he wants to love you or hate you,” Casey explained, “I guess his mind workes in mysterious ways. Like why me?”

Casey sat down at the edge of her bed, he knew the answer to that question. He felt confused about Brett as well, although his feelings ran deeper. 

“You are a good person with a heart of gold. You take your job seriously and let it affect you by caring for your patients and not just forgetting them once you drop them at the ER. You’re forgiving and spontaneous with an angelic side, yet when you want to be you have a feistiness in you,” Casey explained without missing a beat and his head down looking at his feet “I’m surprised more men haven’t been infatuated with you. You’re gorgeous, Sylvie Brett, and the fact that you don’t know that makes you even more alluring.”

Brett stood there in the middle of her bedroom flabbergasted at Captain Matt Casey description of her. Her mouth hung open, her hands full of clothes, and she couldn’t move. 

“You are an amazing Paramedic, who has been through so much pain and yet still keep smiling and making others smile,” Casey stated as he nervously grabbed at nothing on the floor. “A man would have to be a fool not to fall in love with you.”

The room was silent for what seemed like hours instead it was only a few seconds until Brett’s cell rang making her shake her head and put her clothes in her bag. She answered her cell from her front pocket.

“Hello,” Brett answered. “Oh hi, Hailey.”

Casey stood there picking at an invisible item at his shows. He couldn’t believe that he had just done that, admitted how he saw Sylvie Brett, and nothing. She had to know how he felt about her. It was obvious to everyone else especially Severide and Kidd that he was crazy for her. 

He got up from her bed and walked into the kitchen and took out his cell to check his messages. He was getting tired from the long workday and he only got a couple of hours of sleep in a very uncomfortable position. He rubbed the back of his neck while waiting for someone to respond from the text he had sent. He wanted to help Brett even more than he already had, so he had to make sure her apartment would be taken care of quickly. He was positive that she would tell Detective Upton about the apartment, but he wanted even more. First, her car was trashed, and now her apartment. 

“Okay, thank you,” Brett said, entering the kitchen and disconnecting her call. “Upton said someone will come to check the damage to the apartment and from now on there will be patrols at the firehouse, my apartment, and your place until this guy is caught.”

Casey turned around to look at her.

“Good, that makes me feel better,” Casey responded, running his hand through his hair.  
“Let me grab a few things from the bathroom and we can get out of here,” Brett commented before leaving him standing there.

**

As they exited the apartment building a few minutes later, Burgess and Ruzek were pulling up the building. Casey looked over at Brett and took her bag from her. 

“I’ll take this to the truck, so you can talk to them,” Casey stated sternly. He had been quiet on the way down to the first floor. Neither of them had much to say, what was there to say. This wasn’t the right time, yet when would the right time be. He had tried to ask her out on a date over a year ago, and that fell through with the engagement from the Chaplain. When she came back from Fowlerton, Gabby showed up, and Brett told him to take Gabby to the fundraiser event. Then it was Julie and her death, now it was the stalker. When would it be the right time to start something? Was there a right time?

A few minutes later, Brett opened the passenger door of his truck and got inside. 

“I gave them the keys to the apartment, and they said they will get them back to me in a couple of days. I shouldn’t go back until the dust the place for prints and such. So now it’s just a waiting game,” she explained as she buckled her seatbelt.

“You ready then,” he asked.

“About earlier in my bedroom,” Brett commented putting her hand on his arm. “I heard everything you said, and I love how you see me, Matt.”

“We will talk about it later, okay,” Casey retorted. “We don’t need to talk about it right now.”

“We can’t keep dancing around like this, Matt,” she admitted, hurting from him turning her away again. 

“I know, but there is so much on your plate, right now,” Casey explained. “I don’t want to add our budding relationship to that. Relationships that start out under intense circumstances, they never last.”

“First, you are quoting Speed with Keanu Reeves and second you want to have a relationship with me,” Brett retorted, tilting her head to look at him.

“Sylvie, I can’t imagine anything else,” he admitted with a smile. “But I want to do this right and take our time because I don’t want to ruin this or our friendship.”

“I am the one with two broken engagements,” she responded.

Casey started the truck and headed down the road. It was their close friendship that he was afraid of losing, nevertheless he couldn’t risk not taking a chance at a romantic relationship with her. 

“I guess we are both a little gun shy about taking the next step with each other,” he replied as he drove towards his apartment. 

“After this maniac is caught how about we try going out on a real date together,” Brett suggested, grabbing his hand.

“I thought you would never ask,” Matt laughed with a smile.

**  
Twenty minutes later with crazy traffic, they entered the loft Matt shared with Severide and Kidd. Neither of them are around, so Casey takes Brett’s bag to his room. Brett took off her shoes at the entrance of the loft and watched Casey disappear with her bag. She looked around the large loft with the kitchen and living area and walked towards the couch. It had already been an exhausting morning and it was barely ten o’clock. She sat down and put her head back, closing her eyes. She felt the movement of someone sitting next to her and the hand on her thigh.

“It’s been a long twenty-four hours, how about you go in my room and get some sleep,” Casey suggested, squeezing her thigh.

“You had me sleep in your bunk last night, and I recall, you got less sleep than I did,” she responded, putting her hand over his. “I’ll take the couch.”

“No, you’re the guest,” he retorted. Truth, be told, the couch wasn’t that comfortable to sleep on and he was exhausted. 

“We could share, Matt. I mean, we are both adults, I think you can behave yourself for a few hours,” she stated with a smile across her face. 

“Let’s go,” he stood up and held his hand out to her. 

“You know I usually don’t get into bed with someone on the first date, let alone before the date even happens,” she teased as they entered his bedroom. 

“Haha,” Matt stated as he went over to his dresser and got out some sweatpants and t-shirt. “I’m going to go change, I’ll knock when you’re ready.”

He left her standing in the middle of his bedroom. The dark blue comforter on his bed and charcoal bedroom furniture was the typical style for men, but Matthew Casey was far from typical. She grabbed a pair of pink cotton pajama bottoms with coffee cups all over it and a matching tank top out of her bag and put it near the closest. She looked on top of his dresser where he found a picture of his sister and her two children. Sylvie had never met Christie, although he had mentioned her a couple of times. Matt didn’t discuss his family too much or his childhood. She never asked even though asking him about his childhood or teenage years was something she would like to hear at another time. 

After Sylvie changed her clothes quickly and pulled the covers back on the right side of the queen size bed. She sat up against the headboard, waiting for Matt’s knock. Several minutes later there was a light knock on his door. 

“Come in,” she said, pulling the comforter closer up her body. She didn’t know why she was being modest.

Matt opened the door, walked in and suddenly felt a rush of hot air through his body at the sight of Sylvie Brett in his bed. He stood there staring for a moment.

“Did I take the wrong side,” she wondered, noticing the look on his face.

“No, no, you’re fine, just the sight of you in my bed feels a bit surreal at the moment,” he admitted sheepishly. He pulled back the comforter and got into bed. He grabbed his cell off the side table and turned on the alarm. He could feel her eyes on him and any other time or woman, it would make him nervous, yet with Brett it felt different. “I have a worksite I have to go to later.”

“That’s right, I told you that I would help you,” she responded, moving down into the bed and putting her head on the pillows. 

“Okay,” Casey said as he put his phone down. He put his head on his pillow and both of them laid there on their backs in silence. 

Brett couldn’t stand it anymore, she reached over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for being you, Matt Casey,” she whispered before turning over and closing her eyes.

He put his hand over his cheek where she had kissed him and grinned. He needed sleep, but the feeling of her lips on him made him feel alive - something he had not felt in a very long time. He turned towards her and she moved back towards him and then quickly fell asleep with his arm around her waist.


	8. Lovefool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** Thank you for all of the feedback. That last chapter, I wasn’t sure of, but from the sounds of it, all of you loved it. 
> 
> I am hoping to have this finished in two more chapters or so. Okay, so I don’t own Chicago Fire and all mistakes are mine.
> 
> I am so sorry it has been so long since the last chapter. The weekend celebration of my birthday got in the way, then add that to life with a full house. **

**

By two o’clock they were off towards the old Victorian house that Casey was renovating this week. Brett entered the house with a front parlor on the left and a study on the right. 

“Wow, Casey, this house is beautiful. The woodwork is amazing especially around the crown molding,” Brett commented as she stood in the parlor. 

There was a ladder with some tools against the fireplace and four paint gallons next to the ladder. 

“I need to finish painting this room in the palladian blue and put up the new cupboards in the kitchen,” Casey stated. “Do you want to help me paint?”

“Well, I did come dressed to help,” she said with a sweep of her hand. She had on torn blue jeans and a red tank top that fit perfectly on her. 

“I did, notice,” he replied with a sheepish grin. He pointed towards the kitchen. “I’ll be in there if you need be.”

Brett opened the can of paint, poured into the paint tray and grabbed the brush. She went to start painting the wall when she heard something crash. Brett turned around with the paintbrush covered in paint and smeared it all over Casey who was suddenly appeared before her. The paint was now all over Casey’s gray t-shirt. 

“I’m so sorry,” she muttered with a shark intake of breath. “I was shocked by the noise and jumped. Umm… I didn’t realize you were behind me.”

She swept a piece of hair behind her ear. Brett noticed the paint across his chest and couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Do you think it’s funny,” Matt asked as he reached over to the paint can and dipped his index finger into it. He smeared some paint on her nose and looked amused. 

Brett put her hands on her hips and couldn’t believe that Matt Casey smudged paint on her nose. The game was on. 

“Thank you,” she said, turning around and grabbing the paint tray. “This means war.”

“Sylvie,” Matt begged, noticing what she was reaching for. He stepped back as she stepped towards him, he then reached for her arm as the played tug of war with the paint tray. “You don’t want to do this.”

With their arms tangled together, reaching and pulling away, the paint tray became too much for Sylvie to hold up. The paint tray suddenly fell upon both of their heads covering them in the blue hue paint. They looked at each other and began chuckling at each other.

“You look like a Smurf,” Sylvie stated between her laughter as she bent over trying to catch her breath.

“You look a little blue,” Matt howled leaning against the wall. “I came in here to tell you that I had dropped a cupboard.”

“And you were making sure that I was okay,” she replied, looking genuine at him, “I coated you in palladian blue.”

“We make a good pair, the two of us,” Matt commented, as he straightened up and picked up the tray. “I’ll come back on my next day off and finish this.”

“Matt, I told you, I want to help. You have been helping me through so much, I need to do this,” Sylvie responded, walking over to him, and putting her hand on his arm. “You have been my closest, I mean, my best friend, the past few months. The one I confide in the most. I want to do something for you.”

He stood there in awe of the petite paramedic in front of him. She was stunningly beautiful, resilient, and covered in paint. She wanted to do something for him and she didn’t know how much she did to him every day.

“Sylvie, spending time with you like this,” he explained with his heart on his sleeve, “is enough. You don’t realize how you have filled my life with joy the past few months and even the past year. This isn’t a competition on who can help the other more.”

“I know, Matt,” she stumbled, realizing she overstepped. Maybe helping, Matt wasn’t the best idea. “I just thought you needed some help. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

She pulled away from him and swept her hand through her hair - her blue and dirty hair. 

“You know what, Casey,” she said, moving her watch back and forth.

He knew her well enough that when she played with her watch she was nervous. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, even with him. He didn’t know what to say, how to make her feel less uncomfortable. Last night as they slept, it was amazing, even though the only thing they did was sleep. At one point in the middle of the night, Casey had ended on his back, and Brett wrapped herself around him. They woke up in each other’s arms and for a few minutes, he had just watched her sleep.

“Sylvie, we can come back here and work on this house another day, if you would like to. Now, how about we lock up, go back to the loft, clean up, and then maybe head to Molly’s for a drink,” Matt interrupted, knowing that both of them could use a shower and a drink after what they had been through recently.

“Sounds like a plan. I like the color, but not in my hair,” she replied before she sealed up the can of paint. 

They locked up the house after putting things away and headed back to the loft-like Casey had suggested. When they entered the loft Stella and Severide were sitting at the island in the kitchen talking. 

“What happened to the two of you,” Kidd wondered trying not to laugh at them covered in blue. 

“Looks like they fought with some paint and the paint won,” Severide laughed seeing his best friend, Matt Casey, his blond hair and gray shirt covered in paint. 

“Tug of war with the paint tray,” Casey announced. “You can take the shower, first,” he told Brett. He headed towards Severide and Stella in the kitchen and grabbed a beer our of the fridge.

“Or you can always share,” Kidd proposed before covering her mouth.

Brett stood there glaring at Kidd and her suggestive ways. Kidd knew how Brett felt about Casey, but right now wasn’t the time. Kidd looked over at Casey and caught the same look that Brett was giving her.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Brett retorted before heading to Casey’s room to grab some clean clothes and her bathroom bag.

Casey twisted his beer open, guzzled his beer, then leaned over the island. 

“Man, you look horrible,” Severide stated before taking a bite of his pizza that was on his plate.

“Thanks,” Casey replied, grabbing a slice of pizza out of the box.

“Are you okay,” Kidd wondered, noticing the slight tension in his shoulders.

“I told Sylvie how I felt about her yesterday and she is acting as nothing happened. I want to take things slow, but I don’t want her to think it is a competition on who can help the other one out more,” Casey admitted, taking a bite of the pizza. “I thought I was done with who can outdo the other when Dawson left.”

“You want to be there for her, but not be her knight in shining armor,” Kidd explained, “because you know she can take care of herself.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to see her hurting after everything she has been through, although I know she can handle anything that is thrown at her,” Casey justified, as he sat down on one of the stools surrounding the island.

“But, you are who you are, and Matt Casey, can’t help but try to save someone he cares about,” Severide pointed out, “even when they don’t want it.”

“Exactly,” Casey admitted, taking another swing of his beer.

“Tell her you will be there for her, no matter what,” Kidd advised, grabbing another slice of pizza, “I know you don’t want to lose her and she feels the same way. Don’t spend so much time thinking about it ‘what could have been’ and just do it. With that, said, I think I am going to go get ready to work.”

Kidd left the two men at the kitchen island and headed towards Severide’s bedroom. She had a shift at Molly’s and needed to get ready. 

“Tell her what you told us,” Severide said to Casey, “you won’t know where you stand unless you talk to her.”

“Thanks,” Casey responded. 

Severide stood up from the island as Brett walked back into the kitchen after her shower. Her hair was wet and she was dressed in a light pink sweater and dark jeans.

“Shower is all yours,” Brett said as she grabbed the last slice of pizza.  
“I’ll be back in a few,” Casey announced, walking away. 

Brett sat down on the stool that Casey had occupied. She sat there in silence as Severide watched her devour the pizza.

“What is going on in that head of yours,” Severide asked, noticing how quiet Sylvie was.

“Matt is acting all weird when I told him I wanted to help with his construction work,” Brett admitted. “I don’t get him sometimes. I thought he would like the help.”

“He does. The year before you arrived all of us at 51 built a library for one of the elementary schools near the firehouse. He showed all of us what he wanted to do and on our days off, we would go work on it. Since then, we haven’t had any of us work on a construction site with him,” Severide reminisced about the 51 library. “I think he likes spending time with you. But a construction site isn’t the most romantic place to be for a date.”

“First, I love the home improvement shows on HGTV, but I never really worked on them. I wanted to learn how to transform a home instead of just watch it. Second, I enjoy spending time with Matt, and not just because I have romantic feelings for him. He is a friend, a close friend, I feel safe when I am around him. You should have seen us play tug of war with the paint. It was light and fun with him. I can be myself with him,” Brett explained putting her elbows down on the island. 

“Talk to him about how you feel. I told him the same thing, I learned from Kidd that you have to communicate to each other what you want or nothing will come of it. Dawson and Casey didn’t communicate, she would just do things, without telling him, and he would find out after the fact. He can’t go through that type of relationship again,” Severide told her as he finished off his beer. “And neither can you.”

“I want my life to get back to normal before I start anything serious with Matt. I was going to talk to Kidd about helping me catch this guy,” Brett declared, playing with her watch. “I am tired of being a damsel in distress. I need to stop waiting for Guthrie to make a move, and be proactive in catching him.”

“Have you told Casey any of this,” Severide wondered, suddenly worried about his girlfriend and his friend. 

“No, and neither are you,” Brett retorted, looking straight into his eyes. “I texted Upton and Burgess and we are going to set a trap for Guthrie.”

“You are going to use Girl Power on this guy. No men allowed I get it,” Severide commented. “Just be careful. Casey would never forgive me if something happened to you, and I could have done something to stop it. And I would never forgive you if Stella got hurt.”  
“No one will get hurt, other than, maybe, Guthrie and his ego,” Brett indicated before grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Upton and Burgess are going to meet me at Molly’s later and we are going through the plan. Then tomorrow, hopefully, this will be over, and I can get back to my apartment.”

Brett had thought of the perfect plan on catching Oliver Guthrie. She needed back-up, of course, so who else to call than two of the toughest detectives in Chicago to help her. Stella Kidd was another tough cookie, who could handle herself. All they had to do was get Guthrie out in a public place with a large crowd and Sylvie Brett was the bait.


	9. You Give Love A Bad Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes: Yes, it has been a few weeks since I have updated. Life really got in the way, then I got sick for a couple of weeks, and I had no indication of how to write this chapter. This chapter didn’t go as planned, but I hope I surprised some of you. I will be finishing this with just one more chapter, but I am working on a special Halloween fic first.
> 
> Thank you for coming back to read this and all of the feedback I have still been receiving for this story.**

**

Sylvie stood there at the Buckingham Fountain staring out towards the sculptures. The area near her was not as crowded as she had hoped, but she had eyes on her. The skies were blue without a cloud in the sky, the cooler temperature didn’t matter with the sun shining down on her. She wiped the sweat off across her forehead with a napkin that she had grabbed earlier. After wiping off her hands she put the napkin in the trash can. 

“Can you hear me,” Sylvie asked as she took a few steps around the fountain?

“Loud and clear,” Burgess responded, who was about 50 feet away sitting on a park bench with a book in her hand, looking like she was reading it. 

“Clear, here,” Kidd replied as she sat at a picnic table with a bag lunch in front of her, on the other side of the fountain.

“I have you in my sight,” Upton said as she bent her knee stretching on one of the trails. “Target is coming up on our left.”

All four women were set to bring down the man who had been terrorizing Sylvie the past seventy-two hours. She had gotten up early leaving Matt sleeping in his bed. She hadn’t told him her plans, only left him with a kiss on his forehead, sleeping peacefully. 

Stella was waiting for her when she came out of the bedroom. 

“Are you sure about this,” Stella wondered grabbing her bag off the couch.

“I’m sure,” Sylvie answered before Severide came out of the bedroom. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll keep him busy, but if he asks, I’m not going to lie to him,” Severide replied as he stood against his doorway. “I know you, ladies can take care of yourself, but be careful. He wouldn’t forgive me if anything happened to you, and I wouldn’t forgive you if anything happened to Stella.”

“I know, believe I know, but this is the only way,” Brett explained looking back towards Casey’s closed bedroom. “I know if I told Casey what we are going to do; he would talk me out of it. I can’t put him into danger, plus we have the ladies of Intelligence involved.”

“Be careful,” Severide demanded before walking over to Kidd and kissing her. “Both of you.”

“We will,” Kidd responded after the kiss. 

Both women walked out of the loft leaving their favorite men to wait on what came next. Now the women were waiting for their target at the park. Brett knew she had to catch the man that was terrorizing her life and move back to her apartment and her life.

“Target is about thirty feet away from the fountain. Heading right towards you, Brett,” Upton said with an earbud in one ear as she walked towards the fountain on the trail. 

“I see him,” Kidd responded before taking a bite of her sandwich. “He is wearing a jean jacket and dark jeans.”

All four women were scattered around Grant Park with people scattered all around them. At least one hundred people were surrounding them in the park, yet the women had every corner covered. What Brett and Kidd didn’t know was Upton and Burgess also had backup within the park. The two ladies of the Intelligence unit were not going to go into the scheme without a plan B if something went wrong.

“I see him,” Brett mumbled as she sat down at the fountain and waited for Oliver Guthrie to arrive. 

She knew he would get her message and show up to meet her at the park. She may not have been part of the police force, but she knew how this man acted and what he wanted. He would show up anywhere she wanted him too. Brett locked eyes on him as he came next to her and sat down next to her at the fountain.

“Thank you for meeting me,” Brett told him as she looked over at the man who had turned her life upside down. She had goosebumps across her arm even though she had to be strong. The pink short-sleeve blouse she was wearing and light jeans made her look just like an angel on this windy day in Chicago.

“You look amazing,” Oliver replied, “and I am glad you finally agreed to meet me. I knew you would come to your senses. That Captain guy isn’t right for you.”

“And you are,” Brett asked as her shoulders tensed up at the mention of Casey. 

“Of course I am. He puts his life on the line every day. Why? So he can be some sort of hero. He could get hurt daily. I wouldn’t put your heart on the line like that. I would worship you and be next to you every waking moment. I wouldn’t let you near the infernos.”

“I like what I do and Casey isn’t a fireman to be someone’s hero. He is one of the best firefighters in the CFD,” Brett said sternly. She was getting frustrated at the way this conversation was leading. She didn’t meet with Oliver to turn on Casey and the life he had made for himself. “If you want to be with me; you are going to need to do more than bring Casey and what he does down. He is more than a hero.”

The noises around her of all the people had disappeared and all she concentrated on was this moment. She could close her eyes and see Casey smiling at her or sitting in his office concentrating on paperwork. She could faintly smell his aroma of smoke, dust, and his after-shave. The scent of Matt Casey drew her in as she closed her eyes for a moment.

“Stop,” Oliver demanded as Brett felt something poke her in her arm. Her eyes flew open and looked over to see the needle of liquid being pushed into her arm. “You are mine and no firefighter can save you now.”

Brett instantly felt the liquid into her body. She didn’t know what it was, although she had an idea before her mind went blank and her body tingled. The world began to spin and the only thought she had before her body went limp was of Captain Matthew Casey.

“Christmas,” she mumbled before she fell against Oliver. 

Suddenly a shot rang out in the crowd. Oliver felt a pain against his left shoulder and as he looked down he noticed the blood. People began to panic and rushed away from the scene with some running towards the fountain. Brett fell back into the fountain as Oliver let her go standing up. 

“How could you,” Oliver muttered as Brett hit the water. He tried to run away but he felt another bullet him in the right leg. 

A hundred feet away a certain detective that was a skilled marksman put the gun away and stood up. Another member of the 21st grabbed Brett from the fountain, but this woman was older and dressed in baggy worn-out clothes that made her look like she was just a homeless person walking through the park. 

“Kidd, we need medical assistance,” Burgess stated as she began to run towards the scene. 

Kidd jumped up from the picnic table and ran towards the fountain. Within a couple of minutes, she had Severide on the phone to meet them at Chicago Med while kneeling over Brett. The rest of the Intelligence unit was surrounding the Brett and Kidd including Atwater, Ruzek, and Halstead.  
“Was all of you involved in this,” Kidd asked as she checked Brett’s pulse and looked around her friends in the CPD.

“We had to make sure we had every angle covered since Guthrie was wanted for murder,” Burgess explained standing next to Ruzek. 

“I made the call,” Sergeant Platt announced before requesting the ambulance. “Upton and Burgess kept me in the loop and I had Halstead positioned in case something went wrong. Ruzek and Atwater were our back-ups in case Guthrie tried to take Brett someplace.”

“Nice disguise by the way,” Burgess told Platt who was dressed as the homeless woman that pulled Brett out of the fountain.

“I would stop right there, Burgess,” Platt announced. “Where is that ambulance?”

“Two minutes out,” Halstead replied. “Any news on what the suspect injected her with?”

“GHB,” Upton shouted from behind them. The female detective had a tourniquet around Guthrie’s leg and covered his shoulder wound with gauze. 

“Casey is going to be so pissed that Brett is unconscious,” Kidd said as she wiped her dear friend’s hair away from her forehead. 

A few minutes later the two ambulances were on their way to Chicago Med. Kidd was in the ambulance with Brett while Upton stayed with Guthrie. The rest of the intelligence unit stayed at the park to give their statements to Voight, who showed up after the ambulances drove away. The sting to get Oliver Guthrie did not go as planned, but a murderer would be going away for a long time once he was released from his gunshot wounds. Now, all that had to be done is Sylvie Brett had to wake up from the drug and explain herself and her actions to a certain Captain of the CFD and her battalion Chief.


	10. Live Like You Were Dying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** I am so glad all of you have enjoyed this story. I do believe this is the last chapter, let’s see how it ends. I might put an epilogue in if it is needed or requested. Thank you to all of you that have left feedback and kudos. I appreciate every comment even if it is “Good job, please continue.” 
> 
> I have two more stories I am going to be working on. One is my October BFFP story and another one I am going to go full-on angst with, just not sure when I am going to start it. Enjoy.**

The emergency room of Chicago Med was bustling with patients from a four-car pile-up on Lake Michigan Drive. Sylvie was rushed into bay four with Dr. Natalie Manning followed behind the paramedics that had picked her up from the park. In the room next to her was Oliver Guthrie, who had lost a lot of blood from the deep gunshot wound in his left shoulder. Dr. Crocket Marcel had followed the paramedics quickly into bay five. 

Hailey came into bay four after Sylvie had been transferred into the hospital bed. Hailey knew what had happened, but she had to make sure Sylvie would be okay. 

“She has a low heart rate and is unconscious, but her BP is normal. We believe the suspect gave her GHB,” the paramedic spoke to Dr. Manning with a serious tone in their voice.

“We will keep monitoring her heart rate until we analyze exactly what she was given. Detective, do you have a sample of what the suspect gave her,” Dr. Manning glanced at her as she asked Hailey. “If it’s GHB, it dissolves in the body too quickly for testing. So if I had a sample I might be able to find something to wake her up.”

Hailey handed a small baggie with the evidence in it. The large syringe was inside of it that Guthrie had used on Sylvie. 

“Natalie, we believe he used GHB on one of his previous victims. He gave her an overdose of it through a syringe and kidnapped her, then took her back to his place. Luckily, we were there with Brett or he would have done the same thing to her,” Hailey explained as she handed the bag to Natalie. 

Hailey took a deep breath as she leaned against the glass door. When Brett had told her the plan she had for catching Oliver Guthrie, Hailey was against it at first. Brett was adamant that nothing would happen to her with two of the finest detective’s watching over her. Yet, here was Brett unconscious in the ER.

The ER waiting room was full of people of all ages. Some of those people were waiting for their turn to be seen and others were waiting on news about their loved ones. Stella Kidd sat in one of the hard chairs bouncing her knee nervously. She was worried about her best friend, and what would happen to her if she didn’t wake up soon. 

She had called Severide on the ride to the hospital since she caught a ride with Hailey. Now she sat in the ER waiting room until Severide and Casey arrived. Casey was going to be upset with her and Brett. 

“Kidd,” Chief Boden announced his presence as he put his hand on her shoulder. “What happened?”

The last person she figured she would see first at the hospital would be the Battalion Chief of 51. She took a deep breath, blinked a couple of times, and began the speech she had ready.

“It was Brett’s idea to catch her stalker. She figured she could lure him out into a public place and we could catch him that way. We didn’t think that he would try to drug her with so many people around,” Kidd explained. “We had Detective Upton and Burgess with us as a backup. What Brett and I didn’t know was Upton and Burgess also called in backup.”

“What do the detectives think the guy drugged her with,” Boden wondered as he sat down next to her.

“They believe GHB, the date rape drug. He had been known to use it before, but he gave her such a large dose in a syringe that it knocked her out.”

Stella’s eyes opened up wider and she stood up when she caught a glimpse of Severide walk into the room. Casey was right behind Severide with a serious look of anger across his face.

“Where is she,” Casey demanded as he pushed his way past Severide. 

“I’m sorry,” Kidd apologized. “Brett wanted to get back to normal and stop looking over her shoulder all the time. It was her idea, but we didn’t think he would try to drug her.”

“Where is she, Kidd,” Casey urged her to tell him without wanting to hear the excuses. 

“They took her to bay room four,” Kidd answered as she lowered her head. Severide put his arm around Kidd’s shoulders and she leaned into him. 

Casey walked away from them and pushed his way into the ER. He needed to see Sylvie, he needed to make sure she was okay. When he had heard what happened his heart sank at losing her before they even had a chance.

He came up to her doorway, noticed the monitor and wires hooked up to her. Still being his angel that gave him his smile back. Not sure when it happened, but he smiled more with her around. Matt had a reason to smile with her, her angelic, cheerful ways made him feel better about life. Her whole outlook on life even after everything that had happened to her the past year made him a better person. With her around; he could handle anything. 

“How is she,” Matt asked as he stepped into the room.

“Her heart rate is in the low 50’s, and she is still unconscious, but other than that she is okay.   
We could give her something to wake her up, but she could be groggy, disoriented, or agitated. When she wakes up she will need to be looked after because she could still have some effects from the drug in her system,” Natalie told Casey. “She might be a bit confused and uncoordinated and not remember what happened.”

“Can I sit with her,” Casey wondered as he touched the end of the hospital bed.

“That’s fine,” Natalie responded as she entered information into the tablet. “I will check back in a few minutes.”

Dr. Natalie Manning left the room, Matt moved to Sylvie’s right side and grabbed her hand and that is when he noticed Detective Hailey Upton in the back corner of the room. 

“I’m sorry, Casey,” Hailey apologized, putting her hands in her jacket pocket. “We didn’t think he would drug her.”

“Kidd already mentioned it. I just don’t know why she didn’t tell me what she was planning,” Casey said, squeezing her hand.

“I asked Brett that same question after she told Burgess and me, her plan. She told me she didn’t want to put you into danger. This guy was after her and jealous of you. He had already killed his last victim and terrorized the last two women,” Hailey explained as she shifted her feet. “Now that you are here for Brett, I am going to check on the suspect.”

“I hope he rots in jail for what he did to Brett and those other women,” Casey admitted looking over at Hailey.

“Well, first, we have to make sure he is still alive. Jay shot him in the shoulder after he injected Brett, and I know Jay would have liked to have killed him,” Hailey responded, nodding her head towards Brett. “He was upset when he found out what he was doing to Brett. I think he is fond of our paramedic here. Not as fond as you are, more like a little sister sort of thing.”

“Thank you for looking out for her,” Casey told Hailey, “and tell the rest of Intelligence that I said thanks. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to her.”

“Tell her that when she wakes up. Remind her of that every day, Casey. This was a close call,” Hailey implied. She left the room leaving Captain Matt Casey standing over Brett. 

Casey took Hailey’s words seriously. He had a plan, he needed to tell Brett the truth. It was their time, he wasn’t going to settle with “What if’s” anymore. He was in love with her, her beauty, her self-assurance, and her energy. He couldn’t take being away from her anymore and being worried about what if they didn’t work out and he lost his best friend.

“Oh, Sylvie. No more ‘what-if’s’, it’s our time,” he sighed, kneeling over and kissed her forehead. “I am so in love with you.”

He stood there watching over her. His hand swept a piece of hair behind her ear and held trailed his hands across her cheek. She had a rough year and he had tried to make it easier on her, by standing by her side every chance he could.

“You’re in love with her,” Severide stated from the doorway. “Why are the two of you not together?”

“I really don’t know anymore. I tried to ask her out last year before the Chaplain showed up and proposed. Then she came back and she went through so much that I thought I would be just adding on another complication. Now I don’t know why I waited,” Casey explained, looking over at Severide then back at Brett. 

He trailed his fingers slowly down her arm and to her hand. Finally, he stepped away from the bed and walked towards Severide. 

“She had this crazy plan on catching this Guthrie character without me. I don’t know if I should be proud that she asked for help from Kidd, Burgess, and Upton. Or if I should be upset that she left me out.”

“I told them that if you asked that I wasn’t going to lie to you,” Severide admitted, leaning against the doorway. 

“I keep thinking of Gabby,” Casey declared, as he turned to look at Brett.

Severide shook his head at Casey. This was one time Gabby didn’t need to be included. She made her choice when she left Chicago, left 51, and left Casey.

“You have to be kidding,” Severide sighed as he tensed up.

Casey noticed the sting in his friend’s voice. He needed to explain himself.

“It’s not what you think, Sev. Brett did something without consulting me, it is something Gabby would do. Not think of my feelings before putting her life into danger or how it would affect me,” Casey explained. 

Severide put his hand up to stop his friend. He couldn’t let Casey go down that road.

“The difference is Brett had back-up. She didn’t go try to catch this guy by herself, she included the police and Kidd. And another thing, the two of you are not even together, officially,” he questioned. “I mean I know you’re in love with her and I am sure she is crazy about you, but you haven’t even gone out on a date.”

“Matt,” Brett mumbled as her eyes opened slightly. “I’m sorry.”

Casey rushed back to her side, grabbed the chair from the corner, and sat next to her. He took her hand into his.

“I’m here, Sylvie,” Casey responded, taking a deep breath. “I’m right here.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated quietly and slowly, blinking a few times and breathlessly. “I should have told you.”

“Told me what?”

“I love you, too,” she whispered as she closed her eyes again and fell back asleep.

Casey sat there in shock. She loved him; they had been through so much together in the past few months. She felt the same way. 

“I love you too,” he whispered as he kissed her hand. 

He let go of her hand and stood up. Natalie came back into the room at that time.

“She woke up for a moment, said a few words, then fell back to sleep,” Casey told Natalie, moving the chair back to the corner.

Natalie checked on Brett’s vitals then typed the information in the 8 inch dark tablet she held. Brett was still asleep, her blond hair spread out around the pillow. She looked so peaceful, but Casey and Natalie knew that the past few days were very troublesome for Brett.

“I can understand what she had gone through the past few days,” Natalie told Casey. “She probably felt so helpless. Yet, I bet you were a constant presence in her life that wouldn’t let her fall.”

“I tried,” Casey stated a bit agitated as he ran his hand through his golden locks.   
“Does she know how you feel about her?”

“She knows. I told her a couple of days ago before this madman showed up. But we haven’t even gone on a date together,” Casey had said, he had a slight tone of sadness in his voice.

“Fix that when she wakes up. Don’t lose your chance at a happy ending,” Natalie told him. “I see patients everyday that don’t get that second chance of a happy ever after. I lost my chance a couple of times and I regretted it for so long. Don’t lose your’s.”

Natalie left the room leaving Casey standing before Sylvie. Severide was standing in the doorway listening to everything. Casey looked over at his best friend for advice.

“She is right,” Severide stated, “Brett is an amazing woman, don’t blow it because you are afraid of “What If.” 

Suddenly Brett had mumbled a bit, but it was gibberish. Opening her light bright blue eyes and looking over at Casey, she slightly smiled at him “Matt?”

Casey quickly got up rushing over to her, holding her hand tightly but not too tight where it hurts her, but just enough. A smile went across his face “I'm here Sylvie, I came as soon as I heard.”

“Where is he?” she whispered, seeming kind of afraid, “I need to tell him something,” Brett looked up at Casey, her smile was gone, she was more serious than anything. Attempting to get up to find him. 

Casey quickly tried getting her to lay back down, “Hey, stay in bed you need to relax.”

“I need to tell him, I won. He didn't kill me like the others.”

“No, he didn’t. You won,” Matt stated as he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips.

“We won,” she whispered as she pulled him closer into the kiss.

Suddenly Matt knew that everything would be okay. He knew Sylvie loved him and that they would get their chance together. He knew that they had their chance to be together and no one could stop them from moving forward in their relationship. Every breath he took would be to make Sylvie Brett a happy, loved, and cherished woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I wanted to finish this by tonight's episode. So thank you, once again, to all of you that left feedback and kudos. And thank you, to my daughter, Annabelle, who helped me with this last chapter. Tonight is the night, Season 9, Episode 2, I hope is the night where they finally admit their feelings for one another.**


End file.
